Trump Approval Rating In Michigan Higher Than Rest Of US: Poll

Michigan backed President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election by a slim margin, giving a Republican presidential candidate a win in the state for the first time since 1988. Trump’s approval rating has sunk nationally to 40 percent, but in Michigan, 42 percent of residents approve of the job he is doing as president, according to Gallup Daily tracking polls from January to June.

Trump’s popularity in two other Rust Belt states that helped him win the electoral vote contest, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, stood at 43 percent, Gallup said. Consistent with Republican strength in those areas, the president’s highest approval ratings during the period came from Southern, Plains and Mountain West states, and the lowest were primarily in Northeast and West Coast states, the respected polling group said.

The poll aggregate reflects Americans’ shifting views of the Trump presidency during a tumultuous first six months that included controversy surrounding Trump’s executive orders on immigration, his firing of FBI Director James Comey and investigations into election meddling and possible collusion with Russia, as well as ongoing questions of decorum, Gallup said.

Other factors contributing to Trump’s sinking approval ratings include the failure to deliver on campaign promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act and enact tax reform. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, and click here to find your local Michigan Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

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Residents in 17 states gave the president approval ratings of 50 percent or better, but Trump’s highest approval ratings during the polling period were in West Virginia (60 percent), North Dakota (59 percent) and South Dakota (57 percent), and he also had 55 percent or better approval ratings in Montana, Wyoming and Alabama.

The poll aggregate also shows Trump’s lowest approval ratings during the period were in Vermont (26 percent) and Massachusetts (29 percent). Residents of five states gave approval ratings of 35 percent or worse, including Hawaii, Connecticut, New York, California and Maryland.

Gallup said about 81,000 adults were interviewed in tracking polls conducted from Jan. 20-June 30. At least 220 residents of each state were interviewed, including 500 or more in 39 states. In Michigan, 2,372 people were interviewed. Each state’s sample was weighted to ensure it was demographically representative of the adult population.

Learn more about how the Gallup U.S. Daily works.

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